Today has been a lovely day! I spent the morning in Bath visiting my favourite books shops and then I headed to Keynsham Library for 'A Very Happy UnConference' to talk about books and reading- and there was cake (the lemon drizzle was divine!)! Organised by Rosey Crow (pictured above) and Jenny Jones, two wonderful librarians, it was a joy to be there.

The event was a huge success with local authors, librarians, teachers and others interested in children's books gathered to discuss various topics. It was great to hear how so many librarians are reaching out to the youngest readers and their families.

The first session I joined was about pictures books, chatting about great stories and how we use them with children. It was great to hear how so many librarians are reaching out to the youngest readers and their families with 'Baby Bounce' and story time sessions. We discussed using story sacks and puppets and ways of keeping old favourites fresh!

The second session I went to was about author visits and the importance of authors in schools- although I was torn with wanting to go to the comic and graphic books one too! Chitra Sounder shared her ideas about '10 things to do around a book' and she and the other authors present- Mimi Thebo, Fleur Hitchcock, Huw Powell, Polly Ho Yen, Amy Wilson and Karen George- contributed to the lively discussion.

Our final session (after even more cake!) was loosely entitled - how do you make reading the centre of the universe?! I'm not sure we quite solved this one, but we had fun trying!

And then it was all over! Prizes were given for the most creative name badge and for the best cake (both very hotly contended!) and there was a lovely selection of free books to choose from. I hope there is another UnConference very soon!